


Theme Park

by emetoandotherthings



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Motion Sickness, Nausea, Roller Coasters, Sick Character, Sickfic, Vomiting, theme park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18993091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emetoandotherthings/pseuds/emetoandotherthings
Summary: Prompt: The gang go to a theme park and Jude's doing fine until that one ride that goes upside down a few too many timesWarning: Includes vomiting





	Theme Park

“I never had you down as a thrill seeker Eden,” Leyton stared at Eden with a bemused expression. “I’d put Jude as the adrenaline junkie, not you.” They were stood inside just the entrance gate of a theme park that Eden had suggested they should go to during their Easter holidays, looking at the map of the grounds. 

“I wasn’t originally,” Eden grinned sheepishly, “but it’s kinda grown on me.” 

“How can something like that grow on you?” Alba asked; unlike Eden she  _did_  seem to be a natural thrill seeker, up for anything that might give her a buzz.

“I read somewhere that putting yourself in situations like going on a roller coaster produces an adrenaline rush, which simulates the same hormones as a panic attack but it is followed by endorphins which helps build a resistance.” Eden admitted.

“Ah…” Leyton said, all of them had experienced at least one of Eden’s anxious meltdowns – when a panic gripped him that drained his ability to think and, often, breathe. “Has it helped?” 

“Yes,” Jude replied in place of Eden, and they all turned to look at him.  “I’ve known Eden the longest, it’s helped a lot.” Eden smiled at Jude, hearing his best friend saying this made him feel good about himself.

“Yeah, I think it has too.” Eden nodded, “Right,” Eden drew their attention back to the map. “Where are we going first?”

“Let’s just wing it!” Alba suggested, slipping her hand into Leyton’s and beginning to pull away. “We can go on whatever takes our fancy, in whatever order!” 

“Alright,” Eden agreed, “Lead the way.”

The first roller coaster they arrived at hardly even had a queue. Alba spent nearly five minutes trying to convince Leyton to come on it with her but he shook his head, point blank refusing.

“Give me your bag Alba,” he commanded, holding out his hand, “you too Eppie. I’ll look after your bags while you’re on the ride.”

“Fine, suit yourself.” Alba shrugged, dropping her bag strap into Leyton’s palm and stalking off to join the queue. “I’ll get him on something…” Alba murmured as Jude and Eden joined her. 

“Don’t worry,” Eden said, “I mean it’s maybe not his thing, and that’s fine.”  
The waiting to get on a ride was the worst bit for Eden, when he got the anxious bubbling in his stomach before, but as soon as the car began to pull up the tracks he felt the swooping feeling in his stomach which preceded the rush of excitement.

“Seriously Leyton you’re missing out!” Alba jibed at him as they collected their bags from him. 

“I’ll maybe come on one of the smaller rides,” Leyton pacified her, as they started to walk towards the next area – Eden leading the way. Jude kept in step with his best friend, a warm contented feeling in his chest as he saw how happy and relaxed Eden was. 

“This is like therapy for you, isn’t it?” Jude asked. 

“Well kind of,” Eden replied, “I’m hoping that it might help, I’m fed up of being anxious all the time, but it’s not like prescribed… It’s experimental.” 

“Do you feel like it’s helping?” This question was important for Jude. Theme parks had never been a major draw for him, he wasn’t a thrill seeker of this kind – he preferred hiking, kayaking, or any kind of outdoor activity – but he recognized how important it was to Eden. 

“I do,” Eden said, nodding. “I mean, I feel like I’ve been less anxious, but maybe that’s just a placebo… what do you think?”

“I just want you to be happy mate, so whatever helps.”

“This one!” Alba yelled, pointing across to a smaller ride that looked like a train. “Leyton says he’ll go on this one!” Eden and Jude changed their course to follow the others. 

After two hours the group had been on four of the larger roller coasters and a couple of the smaller rides that Alba had forced Leyton to join them on. Eden seemed to have reached an almost manic state, flying high from the endorphins coursing through his system. It took Eppie nearly passing out before they agreed to break for lunch, and then Eden began the slow comedown after his adrenaline-induced state. 

“How about we go on Corkscrew after lunch?” Alba suggested and Eden’s heart jumped into his throat; Corkscrew was the biggest and most extreme roller coaster in the whole park. 

“Yeah! Sounds like a good plan!” Eden agreed, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. Jude looked down at his lunch, wondering if there was nay way he could sit out of this one with Leyton, just looking at the ride made him feel nervous. Eppie looked a little bit nervous too at the prospect of this after lunch agenda. 

The Corkscrew ride loomed above them as they walked over to that corner of the park, and they all stared up at it, hearing the screams of those on the ride already. They watched as another car was sent all of the curling, spinning tracks, screams renting the air. 

“Whoa….” Eppie murmured, her eyes following the progress of the ride car. “I’m not sure I want to go on this one…”

“Oh come on!” Alba giggled, her face had it up. “It’ll be fun!”

“Count me absolutely out.” Leyton shook his head, and Alba shrugged her shoulders; Jude looked across at Eden, and noticed that even he looked a bit worried. 

“You up for it?” Jude asked, half hoping that Eden would back down so he wouldn’t have to go on this one. 

“Gotta try it at least once,” Eden answered, as behind him Alba was using all of her persuasive tactics to convince Eppie into the line. 

While standing in the queue Eden kept shifting from one foot to the other as Jude counted the number of people in front of them and how many turns there would be until it was their go. His heart was pounding in his chest as he still wondered whether he could back out of it. 

When they were in the group that would next get onto the ride Jude heard Eppie’s voice call out in alarm:

“Eden! Are you okay?” Jude turned to look at him, “You’re  _grey_!” She was right, Eden’s face had lost nearly all of its colour. 

“I’m fine,” Eden said, but he sounded a bit wobbly. “Really – I am!”

“You don’t have to go on this, you know?” Jude said, concerned. 

“But I want to…” he replied, “I’m fine, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Jude repeated, as the next car drew up onto the track and the attendant opened the gate and allowed them to climb in. 

“Positive.” He nodded, climbing into the seat and pulling down his own safety harness, then the ride attendant gave it a firm shake to check it was secure before moving on to the row behind. 

The car jolted slightly as it began to move, beginning the slow ascent before the first loop. Jude realised almost instantly why it was called Corkscrew, the car rocketed round sideways in tight loops before hitting a straight track. The ride dipped, unexpectedly going into another sequence of tight spins and loops; beside him he could hear Eden whooping excitedly with his hands up feeling the fast rush of the passing air. 

At the next dip Jude felt a peculiar pressurized sensation in his head, then his stomach gave a wobbly churn. He closed his eyes; the pitching movement of the next set of loops forcing his head back against the seat. The car shunted to the other direction suddenly and a hot wave of nausea trickled from Jude’s head right through his through his body. Oh no… not now. His eyes were still squeezed tightly shut as with the next rise and dip his stomach seemed to jump into his chest. He took in a deep breath through his nose, then opened his eyes. The swirling flashes of white track with glimpses of sky and ground made his stomach clench and he felt a splash of something hot and wet at the back of his mouth. Oh god, this was bad. He couldn’t throw up on a ride! 

He closed his eyes again, putting his hand to his mouth with some difficulty due to the safety harness. A burp burbled up his throat, and he could feel his whole body trembling as he fought against the impending retch. In his hand he repeatedly was intoning – it’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon. A turn in the track forced a mouthful of sick into Jude’s cheeks which puffed out against his hand and he struggled to swallow it back down. His chest pressed hard against the harness, his stomach muscles tensing repeatedly as he gagged weakly into his hand. He couldn’t even lean far enough forwards to not get it on himself so he fought harder to keep his lunch down. 

“Jude?” He heard his name from beside him, “Oh my god Jude…” Jude couldn’t respond, another heave bringing up more sick into his mouth – then he realised the movement was flat, he was upright and slowing down. He was  _nearly_  there. If he could just get off the ride then it’d be okay. He swallowed repeatedly, his churning stomach protesting as he forced down the very liquid that it was trying to reject. He felt the ride grind to a halt and heard Eden call: “Hey, hey! Can you get my friend out? I think he’s gonna be sick!” Jude’s eyes were still closed as he heard feet on the metal platform and Eden saying: “Hold on Jude, hold on.”

Jude opened his eyes and saw the ride attendants working quickly, hearing the pressurized hiss of the harness as it opened. He almost fell out of the ride, retching and knowing that he was seconds away from losing it; running over to the side as quickly as his legs would carry him. He felt the fatal burp as it made it’s way up from his stomach and he fell to his knees sending a wave of vomit out onto the ground. 

“Oh Jude,” Eden’s hand rested on Jude’s back as he belched again, his stomach contracting as an enormous projectile of puke forced out of his mouth and nose. 

“Oh god,” Alba’s voice came from somewhere above him, but he was trying to stop the painful retches that were still wracking his body.

In the few moments after puking Jude was trying to keep himself upright, then felt the grip of Eden’s hand on his shoulder. He felt weak, and he knew he needed to ask for help to get up, but right at this second he was just determined not to throw up again. He panted at the puddle of puke in front of him, then sat back up on his heels. 

“Ede, can you help me up?” Jude asked, his voice sounding rough. 

“Course,” Eden’s hands gripped under Jude’s armpits and pulled him to his feet. “You better now?” Eden’s eyes were wide with worry as he let Jude go as soon as he knew he was going to be steady. 

“Much,” Jude nodded, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin things, I know how important this is for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Eden said. “To be honest that was pretty incredible, just a shame you didn’t get to enjoy it.”

“I was just determined not to throw up while still on the ride.” Jude admitted, shakily making his way out of the exit of the ride. 

“Let’s go and get a seat for a while.” Eden suggested and Jude sighed. 

“Yes please, but one that’s stationary preferably…” 

 


End file.
